The water of cleansing
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2‘This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. 5While he watches, the heifer is to be burned – its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9‘A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.
11‘Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.
14‘This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16‘Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17‘For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. 21This is a lasting ordinance for them.
‘The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.’
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きよめの水
1-3主はモーセとアロンに告げて言いました。「さらに、わたしが定めた規定は次のことである。人々に、傷のない、一度も仕事をしたことのない赤い雌牛を一頭引いて来させなさい。それを祭司エルアザルに渡し、宿営の外に引いて行き、彼の目の前でほふりなさい。 4エルアザルは牛の血を指で取り、幕屋の正面に七度まく。 5そのあと、彼の目の前でその雌牛を焼きなさい。皮も肉も血も糞もである。 6その火の中へ、エルアザルが杉の木とヒソプの枝と赤い糸とを投げ込む。
7それがすんだら、着物と体を洗いきよめる。これでもう宿営に戻れるが、祭司は夕方まで汚れる。 8雌牛を焼いた者も着物と体を洗いきよめるが、同じように夕方まで汚れる。 9それから、汚れていない者が灰を集め、宿営の外のきよめられた場所に置いて保存する。その灰で、人々の汚れをきよめる儀式に使う水を作る。 10灰を集めた者も着物と体を洗いきよめるが、夕方までは、やはり汚れる。イスラエルの人々も、いっしょに住んでいる外国人もみな、永遠にこのおきてを守らなければならない。
11人の死体にさわったら、だれでも七日間は汚れる。 12三日目と七日目に、赤い雌牛の灰を入れた水で体を洗えばきよめられるが、三日目にこの儀式をしないと、七日たっても、まだ汚れたままである。 13死体にさわったのに、決まりどおり体を洗いきよめないのは、幕屋を汚すのと同じことだ。そんな不届き者は追放しなさい。きよめの水をかけなかったので、まだ汚れたままだからだ。
14天幕の中で人が死んだ場合は、次のようになる。その天幕に入る者も、その時、中にいた者もみな七日間は汚れる。 15人だけでなく、中にあるふたのない入れ物も汚れる。
16また、戦争その他の理由で死んだ者の死体に野外で触れた者、骨や墓にさわった者も、七日間汚れる。 17それをきよめるには、まず汚れをきよめる赤い雌牛の灰を器に入れ、わき水を加える。 18それから、汚れていない者がヒソプの枝をその水に浸し、天幕と中にある水さしや皿、中にいて汚れた者などに振りかける。また骨や、殺されるかその他の理由で死んだ者の死体や、墓にさわった者にも振りかける。 19三日目と七日目に、このようにする。それから、本人が着物と体を洗いきよめる。そうすれば、七日目の夕方には汚れからきよめられる。
20身が汚れたのにきよめようとしない者は、神の聖所を汚したのだから追放される。彼はきよめの水を体にかけなかったので、汚れたままである。 21このおきては永遠に変わらない。水を注ぎかける者も、あとで着物を洗いきよめる。水に触れた者はだれでも、その日の夕方まで汚れる。 22また、汚れた者がさわるものもみな、夕方まで汚れる。」
